What was going to be a six horse race to be Notre Dame's starting quarterback in 2011 is now down to four. Nate Montana made it official and transferred to Montana on Monday, and now it's been confirmed that quarterback Luke Massa will be moving to wide receiver for the Irish. Much like Montana, Massa had the option to either switch positions or transfer to another school, and it seems he doesn't want to leave South Bend.

According to his high school coach, Steve Specht, it's a move that shouldn't be a major problem for Massa.

“I think Luke wished he had more time to prove himself at that position," Specht told the South Bend Tribune. "But on the other hand, this kid is all about helping Notre Dame. If they want him to clean the stadium, and that makes the team better, he'd be the first to do it. He'll embrace wide receiver.

“And as far as how good he can be? Well he's faster than people think. He can jump as high or higher than anybody on that team. He has phenomenal body control. I would not bet against Luke Massa.”

Massa certainly has the size to play receiver, as he's listed at 6'4 and 215 pounds. Which would mean that whichever quarterback winds up with the job, he'll have a large target to throw to.

It also means finding a starter will be a bit easier for head coach Brian Kelly. The general consensus is that Dayne Crist and Tommy Rees, who both started games in 2010, have the edge, but the coaching staff is also pretty high on Andrew Hendrix. Then there's the wild card of incoming freshman Everett Golson. Golson has already enrolled for the spring in South Bend, and some believe he's the best fit for Brian Kelly's offense. Of course, whether or not means he's ready to take over the offense from the start remains to be seen.

Though the last time Notre Dame found a dual-threat quarterback from South Carolina, Tony Rice, things turned out pretty well.

Notre Dame has a bit of a logjam at quarterback next season, with Dayne Crist expected to battle Tommy Rees for the starting job in 2011. Behind those two there are also Andrew Hendrix, Luke Massa, Everett Golson and Nate Montana. That's a whole lot of quarterbacks for a limited supply of reps, so it wouldn't be all that surprising to see one of them leave South Bend.

And it appears that the one on the way out would be Montana, son of former Notre Dame quarterback and NFL Hall of Famer Joe Montana. According to the Montana student newspaper (via the Chicago Tribune) Joe Montana was at Montana on Tuesday to talk to the school's coaches. It seems that Joe is doing some ground work to see if there'd be any interest in having his son transfer to the FCS powerhouse.

"(Montana) has four kids and we talked about them all," Pflugrad said of the meeting, adding that he is aware of Nate's situation at Notre Dame but declined to comment further.

If Montana did transfer, it'd be the perfect situation for him. First of all, since he'd be transferring from an FBS school to an FCS school, he wouldn't have to sit out a year. Secondly, Montana is just not going to get a chance at Notre Dame, so there isn't much reason to stay if he wants to play football. Finally, his name is Nate Montana and he'd be playing for Montana.